It has been 2 weeks since my last article. Reason? We’ve been away on a South India road trip. The round trip was from Bangalore to Kanykamuri (the Southern tip/Cape of India). There is nothing like visiting another country, especially one that is as extreme in its current economic progressive state as it is in its yesteryear bystander status. More about that another time.

At the start of 2006 I wrote the following (abridged)…

Twelve months on and I’ve now clocked another year of writing articles / blogs and reviews. But how much has the world really changed? Earlier in the year I attended the ‘Make Poverty History’ semi-launch in Trafalgar Square. It was great to see Nelson Mandela get up and give us inspiration to become the generation that will make the change happen.

Twelve months on and poverty still exists and human rights abuses are still occurring, even though we all know what countries are still maintaining their stance of denial.

Bottom-line – The world needs to change but the power from the people is not being exercised, instead our will has been exorcised/removed from our psyche, replaced by materialistic goals. Corporations are not interested in sharing or harmonising the world, yet the top US firms are keen to spread their market based culture – fast food rules in a world of mass consumerism and the introduction of the ‘no time’ culture. Reduction of pollution is still not considered as a priority – Statistical arguments hide children that choke from the fumes. The world is hungry and we standby with our declarations of the need for improvement.

Although the media in so many countries paints a picture of gloss, it covers the tracks of reality – the truth is out there and its strokes of pain are taken by barefoot and hungry souls. We need change and it can come from a collaborative approach. We need to break free from the shackles / attitude of ‘we’re Ok and someone will sort it out’ and come to terms with demanding greater priority / accountability from the people we put in power.The latter was written at the very same moment as today’s article.

Consider it our folly that even after 12 months we have seen little progress.

1. There is still suffering in Dafur – even though documentaries have highlighted the issue
2. The Iraq situation is still causing innocent causalities
3. The Israel / Palestine issue is still out of control
4. Pollution strategies are still unclear (pardon the pun)!
5. Spirituality seems to be replaced by the Spectre of celebrity!?

Let us all dream, hope and inspire ourselves to make the world a better place by exercising our personal power as consumers !

Categories: 2007, Anti-Poverty, Corporate Responsibility, Environmental, Spirtuality